We've Got The Best

Why, out of about 2.5 million eligible teachers, is Mary Bicouvaris of Bethel High School the National Teacher of the Year?

Susan Drewery, a friend and fellow teacher at the high school in Hampton, says it's "because she is just a very dedicated, very thorough, very good teacher who engages her children in learning."

That's high praise, but surely it applies to other teachers as well. What separates Bicouvaris from them?

Drewery thinks it's what Bicouvaris does outside of the classroom and how she relates it to teaching. "She is a living model of citizenship for her kids. . . . She does so many things that bring the world into her classroom."

It's that extra effort that pays off. Bicouvaris teaches government and international relations at Bethel, but she could just as well be professor of energy and enthusiasm. Anyone who has ever been in her classroom knows that.

Bicouvaris founded the Model United Nations program at Bethel, an interest that seems natural given her background. She is a native of Greece, which was occupied by the Nazis during her childhood. She knows what it's like to live in a society where democracy has been killed, and works hard to instill in her students an understanding of the obligations that come with living in a country where it's alive and well.

For more than a quarter of a century, Mary Bicouvaris has been sharpening her skills as a teacher, and now she is recognized as the best in the nation. That's a tremendous honor for her, for her friends and colleagues at Bethel, for her many students past and present. Hampton can take a lot of pride in saying that its school system is home to the best.